Introduction:

[JCO]

Welcome to the SHOW blaster1...we greatly appreciate your post and are eager to be kept up to date on your progress and what you are doing to get everything set up.

[wolfracer]

Hello Blaster! please let us know how your project is going and good luck!

[mpugh5@aol.com]

hello blaster one newbie to another

[aquaarche]

Yes, Montana is huge, it's a beautiful state (despite the freezing weather),

hey Jack, I was wondering how about raising brown trout instead of gold fish. they are legal in Montana they do well in cold weather.

My grandfather had a farm in Wisconsin he had German browns they got huge in just one summer.

anyway, just a thought

[flout]

Flout here!

Just wanted to introduce you to my work. After 17 years developing and building dosing equipment for septic systems. I am branching out to the AP/HP field.

Here is a construction technique I explained to badflash for CELLULAR PVC LINED PLYWOODor OSB GBs, FTs, and HTs:

Get a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood or OSB. Contact cement a sheet of 1/8 or 1/4" cellular pvc sheet** to it. 1/4 would be better for the abuse from digging and moving the grow media around. Solid pvc may also be used.

Cut up the finished sheet on a table saw to the sizes needed. Set the blade to the thickness of the pvc and set fence at 7/8" for 1/8 sheet or 1" for 1/4 inch sheet. . Rip off the plastic only where the ply panels will join. The contact cement allows the strips to easily pull away. Gorilla glue and pneumatic staple the joints. (Nail or screw ok but slower). Caulk the plastic seams inside with THICK bodied pvc glue such as Christies Red Hot white pvc cement.Glue and staple a 2x3 or 2x4 rim around the top . Staple thru the 2x3,4. Choose a staple or screw that will not reach the plastic. Give the wood a good coat of exterior paint. I put a plastic angle around the top rim to keep the plastic sheet from pulling away from the rim.

If you prefer, you can build the tank bare and glue in the plastic later. Doing it first ,however, is more thorough and more accurate.

**INTEFOAM Cellular PVC sheet: http://www.modernplastics.com/intefoam- ... 3543c651e2

FLOUT

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[badflash]

I'm looking forward to seeing how this works in an AP setting.

Looks like the Flout overcomes the problems with bio-fouling. If it can handle sewar sludge, it should handle fish growies.

Definitely looks like somethng I'll try.

[jackalope]

Yes, Montana is huge, it's a beautiful state (despite the freezing weather),

hey Jack, I was wondering how about raising brown trout instead of gold fish. they are legal in Montana they do well in cold weather.

My grandfather had a farm in Wisconsin he had German browns they got huge in just one summer.

anyway, just a thought

I'm growing Guppies now ....... I'm not doing very well in the veggie dept ...... it looks like we may have some tomatoes and possibly some peppers .... th squash and cukes have only given up male flowers, so I think they're a bust .... the watermelon gave up the ghost, and out of four bush bean plants, we've got a total of about 5 beans All but one lettuce died, and it had about four leaves on it and suddenly went to seed. The parsley did fine, for the one plant that survived, and the wife took everything else that I hadn't killed and put it in dirt, where it is doing great ....... as an aquaponicist, I make a real great lawyer This will be the last heirloom seeds that we buy from Irish Eyes .......

Right now I've got about a hundred feeder guppies, and I've just started introducing some fancies, in the hopes that I can sell them to pet stores and recoup some of my money ...... I'll use the male feeders for fish food, and keep the females for breeding as I get more fancy males ......... somehow, this has to work out!!

[jackalope]

i just looked at your location on the aquaponics map and, boy'o'boy, you sure live way out in the sticks! How many people live in your town?

About 96 registered voters and 25 kids in the school K-12 ....I don't have any idea of how many are under kindergarten age .... I only know of one.

Do you know every single person in your town?

I try not to know too many Naw, actually, this is a cattle rancher's town, if you don't own a ranch or work on one, you're pretty much personna-non-grata .... If you say hi, they'll nod, or say hi, but it's obvious you're not in 'their class' and if you've got Cherokee heritage ......... (We've got several res's here in Montana; Sioux, Crow, Blackfeet, Flathead, and I think Cheyenne, so they're not too fond of those that were here before them) ..... ..... I'd say that probably 50% to 75% or more of the 'townies' are older .... on Social Security like myself, very few families, and getting to be fewer because they tend to buy up any land that's for sale so 'outsiders' won't move in. My son and I just lucked out and bought our places from former outsiders, and the properties weren't necessarily up for sale when we found the sellers .... we got them at good prices, so the mortgages are low .... as a matter of fact, my electric bill is almost twice what my mortgage is , but even then it's hard to make it on a fixt income .........

So, as a carpenter how far did you have to travel to the job sites?

When I lived in Kalispell and Bigfork (on the West Side of Montana next to Flathead Lake), I just traveled the immediate area, but the costs are so high there, we retired over here. If Construction picks up, I may be able to get work in Billings (110 miles South) - good thing I've got a Class A to live in during the week

[Lisa urban farmer]

Hi my name is Lisa and I live in Florida(Tampabay) I have a 1000 gal koi pond and a 1300 gal pond .I am planning on taking the 1000 gal and take out the koi and put in Talapia and then make some form of aquaponic system of it.I would like to produce prawns also.I am in the planning stages now.The ponds are in full sun but I can use shade cloth over them if necessary.I would like any imput as to what kind of grow bed to use to also do the prawns.I have 2 small 5x6 1 ft deep ponds next to each pond and would like to use those to start,they waterfall into the big ponds which really airiates the water . Any suggestions will be appreciated. I also raise meat rabbits,quail,pheasants and have hens for eggs. I am trying to make us as self sustainable as possible .Is there something I can do for organic food for the Tilapia that I can make here at home?

[badflash]

Yes, check out Black Soldier Flies. They love fresh chicken manuer and all sorts of wastes. Tilapia quickly lean they are good to eat. So do prawns. Koi and Prawns or koi and tilapia >4" work OK together. For either you need deeper water in South FL. They need to be able to shelter from the sun.

Check out Epcot. They'll give you all sorts of ideas.

Chicken manuer can also be used to fertilize ponds to create an algae bloom that tilapia can feed on.